Illuminated house number



s- 1953 F. L. SIMPSON 2,648,152

ILLUMINATED HOUSE NUMBER Filed Aug. 15, 1949 I INVENTOR. Frank L.Simpson ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 11,1953

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ILLUMINATED HOUSE NUMBER Frank L. Simpson,Denver, Colo.

Application August 15, 1949, Serial No. 110,242

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to illuminated house numbers. It has to doparticularly with a portable electrically illuminated device or assemblywhich is capable of being applied to an upright wall of a house or porchin the vicinity of the entrance door to provide a combined illuminatedhouse number for the property and to also provide light for the adjacentarea, to thus eliminate the necessity of using a separate porch orentrance light. The device or assembly may also be readily attached to aporch of the building at the forward end of a portion thereof, to bedisposed in a position above or adjacent to the step or steps leading upto the porch to perform the dual function of providing an illuminatednumber for the property and of illuminating the steps and adjacent porcharea.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improveddevice or assembly of the foregoing character which is relativelyinexpensive to manufacture, which is of portable nature, which may bequickly and easily installed without requiring the services of a skilledmechanic or electrician, and in which the house numerals can be changedat will.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved deviceor assembly of the foregoing nature which comprises a skeleton framepreferably formed from a single piece of metal carrying removable andinterchangeable preferably translucent plates which carry numerals andwhich has angularly disposed supporting arms or portions forming a partof the frame which permit the device to be mounted either with the armsdependin from the frame or projecting upwardly above the remainder ofthe frame, thus providing virtually a universally mountable device.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device orassembly as aforesaid, in which the frame of the device may be invertedwhen desired and in which the detachable and interchangeablenumeral-carrying plates may be attached so as to depend from a forwardportion of the frame of the device or may be so mounted as to projectupwardly above said forward frame portion; and one in which theilluminating means is disposed behind the numeral-carrying plates.

Another and important object of the present invention is to provide anilluminating device or assembly of the foregoing nature in which thebox-like casing performs the dual function of providing means forhousing the electrically connected lamp sockets and for reinforcing thesubstantially U-shaped frame of the device.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill appear from the following description and appended claims whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification, wherein like reference characters designatecorresponding parts in the several views.

2 In said drawing: Fig. 1 is a front elevational View, partly brokenway, of the improved illuminating device or assembly embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the device of Fig. 1, takensubstantially along the line 2-4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction ofthe arrows;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, partly inelevation, of the box-like casing and one of the electrically connectedlamp bulb sockets and lamp bulbs of the device or assembly; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing anotherapplication of the device of the present invention to a buildingstructure, this being in connection with a portion of a porch of abuilding.

Before explaining in detail the present invention it is to be understoodthat the invention is not limited in its application to the details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced or carried out in various ways. It is to be understoodalso that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for thepurpose of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended tolimit the invention claimed herein beyond the requirements of the priorart.

With reference now particularly to the drawing, the U-shaped frame ofthe present illuminating device or assembly is shown as a whole at I0.This frame comprises, preferably, a front or forward portion II whichextends in a vertical plane, end portions 12 which, as shown, extend inhorizontal planes, and angularly disposed supporting arms or portionsl3. The frame is preferably formed from a single metal strip or bar andis twisted at substantially the juncture of the forward portion II andthe ends 12, as indicated at 14, so that the forward portion ll may bedisposed in a proper position to receive the detachable andinterchangeable numeral-carrying preferably translucent plates, hereinafter referred to, and the end portions may extend in a horizontal planeand be continued to provide the supporting arms [3, as shown.

The illuminating portion of the device or assembly comprises preferablyan elongated boxlike metal casing or housing, shown as a whole at 15,which is preferably provided with end flanges I6 permitting it to bedetachably mounted by means of screws or bolts 11 upon the end portionsl2 of the frame. Thus, in addition to providing means for carrying thelamp bulb socket or sockets and the wiring of the device, the box-likecasing provides means for interconnecting the end portions l2 of theframe to thus reinforce said frame.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the boxlike casing I5 depends belowthe ends 12 of the frame and carries a pair of lamp sockets, one

only being shown at [8 in the drawing. The

socket l8 and the additional socket or sockets (not shown) arepreferably mounted upon a wall IQ of the casing by means of bolts, orthe like 20. The opposite wall 2| of the casing is provided with anopening to receive a rubber ring or grommet 22 which surrounds the plugportion of an electric lamp 23. The rubber grommet performs the dualfunction of sealing the opening, thus making the box-like casing 15water tight, and, prevents any possibility of metallic sounds or rattleswhich might be set up by reason of the device or assembly beingsubjected to vibrations in use.

The socket or sockets [8 (one only being shown) are electricallyconnected together by suitable electric conduits 24 and the casing 15carries an electric lead-in conduit 25 which has its end preferablyprovided with an electric plug (not shown) which may be plugged into astandard socket to illuminate the bulb or bulbs 23.

In the form of Figs. 1 and 2, the box-like casing I depends below theend portions 12. In this form, the numeral-carrying translucent plates25, each having a numeral 26- affixed thereto, the plates beingpreferably formed from some suitable translucent plastic, frosted ormilk glass, or other suitable material, are detachably mounted upon thevertically disposed forward portion I l of the frame and are removablyheld in place by cap screws or bolts 21. It will be seen that thenumeral-carrying plates 25 depend below the member II and it will alsobe seen that the illuminating means, namely the electric lamp bulb orbulbs 23 are disposed behind the plates and concealed by them. Whilemerely for purposes of illustration the forward frame portion H is shownas provided. with four detachable and interchangeable numeral-carryingplates 25, a smallernnmber'or a greater number of plates. may, however,be provided dependent, of course, upon the number of digits constitutingthe house number.

The device of the form of Figs. 1 and 2 is preferably mounted upon anupright surface or wall 9, see Fig. 2, by means of the angularlydisposed supporting arms 13 which are held in place by screws or bolts8.

When it is desired to mount the device or assembly at the forward orfront end of a porch beneath the roof structure thereof, the frame ispreferably inverted from its position of Fig. 2 to the position in whichit is shown in Fig. 4 and the numeral-carrying plates 25 are attached tothe forward frame portion H so. as to extend upwardly above said frameportion. In this position, that is in the position of Fig. 4, the lampbulb or bulbs 23 are disposed at the rear of the plates 25 as in the.preceding form and are. thus.

concealed from view by those plates. The angularly disposed supportingarms 13 are preferably attached to a horizontal member 30 disposedbeneath the roof structure, indicated as a whole at 31 in Fig. 4, saidstructure being provided with a drain gutter 32, as shown. The device ofFig. 4 will function in precisely the same manner in its invertedposition as in the position of Figs. 1 and 2. It will be merelynecessary to provide numeral-carrying plates 25 in which the numerals 26are in upright position. The numerals 26 may be located in substantiallythe center of the plates, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or they may be l cet dcoserto t e upper e ge. f he. sup or ing; plates 25 of Fig. 4.

If the property upon'which the sign. is to be used carries. ajlowidentifying number of. merely one or two digits, the entire device couldbe made of a smaller size and would include, in that case, only a singlesocket and one lamp bulb. For property located where five digit numbersprevail, for example, the size of the frame and the box-like casing maybe increased and more than two lamp sockets and lamp bulbs provided ifexpedient.

In use, it has been found desirable to employ translucent plastic plates25 which resemble frosted glass or milk glass, with the numerals 26being formed from a non-transparent plastic of a contrasting color, suchas black. The numerals 25 are attached to their supporting, plates 25preferably by means of a plastic cement. They could, however, beattached by means of screws or small bolts, if desired, or in any othersuitable manner.

While I have referred to the casing or housing is as being formed frommetal, it will be understood that it may be formed as well from plastic,hard rubber, or any other suitable material. Moreover, a fluorescentlamp may be substituted for the incandescent lamp bulb or bulbs 23.

I claim:

1. In a combined porch light and illuminated house number device, asubstantially u-shaped horizontal frame having angularly disposedsupporting arms extending from the opposite ends of thev U-shaped frameproviding means for mounting the frame on a supporting surface,removable and interchangeable numeral-carrying translucent platescarried by the forward portion of the frame to be disposed in uprightposition, means for removably attachin the plates to said forward frameportion, a normally horizontally disposed elongated box-like casinghaving end flanges and extending from end to end of the frame andinterconnecting the end portions thereof to reinforc said frame, lampsockets disposed up-right within the casing, leadin el ctric wiringconnected to said sockets and adapted to be plugged into a source ofelectric current, and lamp bulbs disposed within the sockets behind thenumeral-carrying plates to illuminate the same and to unobstructedlyilluminate the area below and in the general vicinity of the device.

2. A device accordin to claim 1, wherein. the angularly disposedsupporting arms extend downwardly from the opposite end portions of theU-shaped frame, wherein the numeralcarrying plates project downwardly independing relationship from the forward portion of the frame, andwherein the lamp bulbs also depend from the box-like casing in positionsbehind the plates.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the angularly disposedsupporting arms extend upwardly from the opposite ends of the U-shapedframe, wherein, the numeral-carrying translucent plates extend upwardlyabove the forward portion of the frame, and wherein the lamp bulbsproject upwardly from the box-like casing and are disposed behind saidplates.

' FRANK L. SIMPSONI References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,435,308 Jones Nov. 14-, 1922 1,568,630Shearer Jan. 5, 1926' 1,640,819 Campbell Aug. 30, 1927 1,786,883 ZahonyiDec. 30, 1930: 2,274,138 Gerstenberser Feb. 24, 1942;

